WEB EXCLUSIVE Despite having to overcome segregation during the Jim Crow era in North Carolina, Dr. Manassa Thomas Pope prevailed over abuse and discrimination, including a multitude of restrictions against African Americans, to register to vote in 1902, and later run for Raleigh mayor in 1919. One of North Carolina’s first licensed Black physicians, Pope was also the only African American to run for mayor in the South during the time.
Pope’s story of overcoming adversity in the Jim Crow South is an influential one—and one that many Raleighites aren’t aware of. The Pope House Museum in downtown Raleigh—North Carolina’s only African American house museum and the former home of Dr. Pope—aims to share his story with a new exhibit called A Family Story: Images of the Pope House Museum.
The Pope House was built in 1901 and opened as a museum in 2011. The new exhibit will explore the life of Pope and his family through a series of photographs ranging from 1880 to 1999. This collection includes tintypes from the late 19th century and polaroids from the ’90s. The museum’s original collection features artifacts dating back to the 1860s, including Pope’s voter registration card, his doctor bag used in the Spanish-American War and his father’s freedman papers.
The A Family Story exhibit opens to the public on Saturday, Feb. 6. Tours are by appointment only and are offered Saturday 9am to 4pm and Sunday 1pm to 4pm. Call the City of Raleigh Museum (919.996.2220) to reserve your time slot at least 30 minutes beforehand. 511 S Wilmington St.
WEB EXCLUSIVE TGI-TRW (Thank God It’s Triangle Restaurant Week)! This annual, highly anticipated event celebrates and highlights culinary excellence throughout Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill from Jan. 25 to Jan. 31. Over 30 local eateries are offering special deals and fixed prices (tax and gratuity not included) on two- or three-course meals during the week—and don’t worry, they’ve got you covered with take-out options too.
“This winter’s Triangle Restaurant Week celebrates 14 years of culinary excellence in the Triangle,” Triangle Restaurant Week founder Damon Butler says. “We are very excited to be able to offer a takeout version since many people look forward to this yearly event.”
Here are 10 restaurants throughout the Triangle we have on our must-eat list for this week. Try one, or try them all (we applaud you for that in advance)!
For the full list of restaurants participating in Triangle Restaurant Week, visit trirestaurantweek.com.
For the authentic Vietnamese cuisine of your dreams, stop by Anise Pho on Glenwood. They’re offering three customizable course options (drinks, appetizers and entrees) for $20 for dine-in or takeout. We’re sure no matter what you go with, your meal will be pho-nomenal.
Dos Perros has a reputation for fresh, contemporary Mexican cuisine and some of the best vegetarian and vegan options in town. For TRW, they’re offering a three-course meal (vegan options included) for takeout. No matter what, get the crispy, cinnamon-y churros with chocolate sauce—they’re to die for!
While we can’t be in Paris right now, Coquette’s authentic French cuisine is the next best thing. The TRW menu includes favorites such as truffle mac and cheese, leek and potato soup and the beef bourguignon pictured below. Swing by for a two-course lunch or dinner option any day this week.
Parizade’s stellar Mediterranean cuisine has been favored by Triangle residents for 26 years now. Clearly, they’ve got something good going on. Grab takeout for dinner, including tasty dishes like baked ricotta gnocchi, green chickpea and mushroom falafel, grilled salmon and more.
You can’t go wrong with some good ol’ Eastern North Carolina-style whole-hog, pit-cooked barbecue at The Pit in downtown Raleigh’s Warehouse District. Choose from homestyle options like fried green tomatoes and fried chicken for a three-course meal for takeout.
This global fusion restaurant is offering a plethora of delicious options for a four-course dinner for takeout. It’s almost impossible to choose between the pork shank osso buco tagliatelle with Parmesan or shrimp and grits in bourbon lemon sauce for the entree.
Old World Italian cuisine and New York-style pizza are the main allure of this classic Raleigh spot. And if that’s not enough to make you immediately drop everything and go get some pasta, every entree comes with garlic knots. You’re welcome.
Wye Hill is already one of our go-to downtown spots, and the TRW dinner menu they’re offering for takeout only seals the deal—think mushroom arancini and short rib sliders. Are you drooling? Because we are.
Capital Club 16 is a cutting-edge American restaurant with a German-leaning menu. For TRW, the downtown resto is offering three courses for curbside pickup or takeout with options such as winter vegetable gratin and beer braised pork shoulder; assorted cookies from lucettegrace finish off the meal.
Breakfast for dinner, anyone? Morning Times has you covered with a three-course meal that includes popular dishes like shrimp and grits and Chef Sam’s Brr-Berry Biscuit.
Charlotte Russell Contemporary Fine Art Gallery opens in Cameron Village.
WEB EXCLUSIVE Curator and arts writer Charlotte Russell has always been passionate about bringing more inclusivity into the art world. Her new pop-up gallery in Cameron Village does just that, highlighting the quality works of underrepresented artists, female artists and artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Charlotte Russell
Charlotte Russell Contemporary Fine Art Gallery‘s inaugural exhibition, On the Horizon, is a two person exhibition by local female artists Grace Clark and Alexandra Chiou. The series of photographs and hand-cut paper artworks explore our connection with nature, the horizon line and its symbolism of hope and possibility. On the Horizon will be on display until March 26, 2021.
“During the global pandemic, people spend a lot of time outdoors in nature in a way usually designated for weekends or vacations,” says Russell. “For my first exhibition at CRC Gallery, I wanted to draw the natural world in through this selection of [Clark’s] photographs. I selected Alexandra Chiou… because her hand-cut paper artworks are rooted in hope, possibility and new beginnings. Her conceptual narrative fits perfectly with my vision for CRC Gallery and my hopes for 2021.”
Curiosities is a solo exhibition of sculptures by another Raleigh artist, Kelly Sheppard Murray, also on display at CRC Gallery until March 26, 2021.
Be sure to come back and check out the new collection, Art Ritual, on April 9. This exhibition will focus primarily on contemporary art and explore the ritual of art making. Featured artists include King Nobuyoshi Godwin, Rebecca Kaufman, Joy Tirade, Ethel Revita and Evelyn Reyes.
“Art has the power to change the way we view the world and our role within it,” says Russell. “Focusing on inclusivity in the arts allows for new voices, fresh perspectives and innovative art practices to be heard in the art world and beyond.”
CRC Gallery opened at 419B Daniels St. on Jan. 8. The gallery is open to the public at a limited capacity Sunday through Friday and Saturdays by appointment only. charlotterussellcontemporary.com
WEB EXCLUSIVE Across the country, hundred of thousands of lives were lost to the ruthless coronavirus last year. These were mothers, grandfathers, uncles, sisters, nephews and everything in between. In order to commemorate the lives lost to COVID-19, several downtown Raleigh buildings will be illuminated with amber lights on Tuesday at 5:30pm.
This memorial joins a national tribute began by the Presidential Inaugural Committee to honor nearly 400,000 COVID-related deaths in the U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris hope to move forward on the eve of Inauguration Day in the spirit of unity and remembrance.
Raleigh buildings participating in the memorial lighting include the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, the Shimmer Wall, towers along Fayetteville Street and the Raleigh Municipal Building. Gov. Roy Cooper recently announced that the North Carolina Executive Mansion will also join the lighting.
In a tweet Tuesday morning, Cooper wrote, “As we battle this pandemic, we continue to mourn the hundreds of thousands of Americans we’ve lost to this cruel virus. Tonight, the People’s House will be lit in honor of their memories and the grieving families left behind.”
Cooper invites others to join the national remembrance by lighting candles, placing lights in their windows, praying, reflecting or meditating. Houses of worship are invited to take part by ringing bells or performing ceremonies. Businesses are encouraged to place amber lights in their windows for 30 minutes at a time as well.
“COVID has taken so much and so many dear ones from us,” said Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin in a statement. “Honoring those whom we have lost to this terrible disease is a way to bring communities together.”
WEB EXCLUSIVE Positive change is the mantra of 2021, and thanks to two new businesses, the Oakwood Historic District has a lot of it coming its way. B Side Hair Studio, a cutting-edge salon by Jenny Jones and Stephanie Watson offering locally-made Virtue Labs products, opened at 222 N. Bloodworth St. earlier this month, and local artists Skillet Gilmore and his wife Caitlin Cary announced they’re opening The Pocket Gallery in the same building on Feb. 1.
Gilmore and Cary are widely known in the Raleigh arts community for their involvement in the Whiskeytown band in the 90’s, their individual visual arts careers and their widespread activism efforts in the local arts community. The Pocket Gallery will act as a studio and art gallery featuring Cary and Gilmore’s work, as well as a rotation of other local artists.
“After 25 years as musicians and working artists in Raleigh, Skillet and I feel really excited about becoming an official little link in the beautiful chain of Raleigh’s arts community,” says Cary.
Gilmore adds that they’ve been searching for a place of their own for a few years now, and the location was too perfect a size for them to pass up. Sure, opening in the middle of an international pandemic isn’t ideal, but Cary and Gilmore are optimist about their future endeavor.
“It’s hard to know when we will be able to be fully the ‘open’ studio and shop we want this to be, but starting now gives us time to hone our vision, gather our compatriots and rev our solar-powered engines a little,” Cary says. “For now we will be open by appointment, working on a strong web presence and offering curbside pickup and sidewalk showings.”
The building at 222 N. Bloodworth St. was originally renovated by Louis Cherry in 2017. Louis Cherry Architecture occupies the third space in the building and signed over the remaining two spaces to B Side and The Pocket Gallery after Little Shop Sweets closed on January 10.
“It’s been a wonderful experience to help an old corner grocery from over 100 years ago come back to life,” says Cherry. “And that includes the amazing tenants we’ve had the opportunity to work with. B Side and The Pocket Gallery will bring new energy to Oakwood’s business district, which people both inside and outside of the neighborhood will have the opportunity to enjoy in the years to come.”
According to Cherry’s wife Marsha Gordon, who is deeply involved in the creative community and in the signing of Cary and Gilmore, this step was a no brainer.
“Caitlin and Skillet are longstanding contributors to Raleigh’s art and music scene, and we were thrilled when they expressed interest in coming to 222 N. Bloodworth St. Caitlin and Skillet are dream tenants because they are collaborative and kind; down-to-earth but driven to make and do; talented and creative; and, most importantly, they care deeply about Raleigh and the arts community here.”
